Rachna Kaul, MD

"Dr. Kaul is a local Bergen County Doctor operating in a DPC (Direct Primary Care) Facility. Our Doctors Office is located in Ridgewood, NJ. Dr. Kaul has 10+ Years of Experience. She has a B.A. in Spanish Literature and a Masters degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Dartmouth College. She studied medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and completed her residency at Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Practice in New York City. With extensive training in Integrative Medicine through both the University of Arizona’s Integrative Medicine in Residency curriculum and through the Institute for Functional Medicine, Dr. Kaul has created an approach that joins western and eastern medical philosophies. As a member of an Indian household, her childhood experience with Ayurvedic nutrition was passed down from both of her grandmothers. She has trained with the Helms Medical Institute, one of the best acupuncture training programs in the country. Dr. Kaul uses all of these tools that she has picked up along the way to treat her patients in a holistic, integrative, evidence-based manner."

"Maitri Wellness was established in July 2016, and was born out of the desire of Dr. Kaul to offer her patients an alternative model to traditional, insurance-based physician care. This model is referred to as DPC, or Direct Primary Care. Prior to opening Maitri Wellness, Dr. Kaul had worked as a physician who took insurance and she witnessed firsthand how these doctors were limited by what the insurance company chose to pay them. Insurance companies don’t pay for phone calls and they often don’t pay for more than a 15-minute visit (including vitals and check-in by office staff). There were instances where they didn’t pay for visits at all. Furthermore, according to a study reported in Insurance Business magazine, doctors spend anywhere from 50-67 percent of their time doing insurance-based paperwork, instead of taking care of their patients! Dr. Kaul, and many of her physician colleagues, were struggling with burnout, and feeling like they did not have enough time to spend with their patients. When third parties were involved in collecting money, whether that was insurance companies, hospitals or owners of medical facilities who were in sales, not medicine, quality care suffered. That’s why she decided to leave the insurance-based system and move to the Direct Primary Care model. The hallmark of her DPC model is the focus on the doctor-patient relationship. The doctor doesn’t take insurance and the patient pays a monthly access fee to ensure that they can reach her, or see her when needed. By not taking insurance, overhead is lowered and she can spend more time with each patient. Unlike the insurance model where doctors usually will have to see 1500-300 patients a year, in the DPC most doctors will see up to 600 patients annually. Dr. Kaul chose to limit her patient base to only 150 people. This allows her (1) spend more time with her patients, (2) to coordinate their care with specialists, (3) to contact them back to answer questions via text or phone, and (4) to not keep them waiting in the waiting room. Today, Dr. Kaul’s practice thrives on a commitment of mutual respect between patient and doctor. They trust her medical expertise and she trusts that they will put in just as much effort into their health and well-being along the way."